Play It Again, Charlie (59 page)

Charlie had trailed after them, trying to interrupt before Will could look even more intimidated by that news or get pulled into looking at all the pictures on the walls, only to be told to be quiet. In English. It had at least brought Will's smile back.

He'd tried to interrupt again when she'd stopped by the pictures anyway, after he'd seen Will studying the furniture and the carpet, probably estimating the cost.

“Nana.” Unfortunately, Will's ability to befriend anyone meant that that time,
Will
had told him, sweetly, to shush.

“Charlie, your abuela is talking.”

Charlie still frowned to think about it, and what would have likely have been hours of more embarrassment if Nana had gotten Will to look at pictures. It was where she'd been leading him and where they'd be now if she hadn't had to finish dinner.

“I'm making tamales. They are his favorite,” she was explaining to Will, whom she'd dragged with her to the giant stove. Will didn't look up.

“Really? I didn't know that. Are they... are they hard to make?”

“Good boy. I can show you.” She actually patted Will again, and Charlie cleared his throat.

“Nana, pleas— ”

“Sh.” Neither of them was looking at him now. He had a feeling he was expected to go outside and check on the operations, or Angel, but no way was he leaving them alone. “This is no place for him,” she said to Will, who blinked.

“The kitchen? But he cooks at his apartment.”

“That is not what he needs.” Nana sniffed at that, and Will shot Charlie a confused look. “If he says that, he's lying.”

“And here I thought Charlie just didn't say anything. I didn't think he was a liar, too— oh!” Will slapped a hand over his mouth. “I mean. Um, you know. He's a good cook.”

Nana stared at him, then at Charlie. She did not seem happy. Charlie put a hand to his forehead, but the words spilled out anyway.

“Abuela, por favor, please. Don't... .” Don't drive him away. “No lo espante.” It was rude to say it so Will couldn't understand. “Will doesn't need to cook— ”

“Charlie!” Will gasped.

“Carlos.” Nana paused to let Charlie know she felt he was being ridiculous in assuming that she would frighten Will away when they both knew what she wanted. If Will wasn't strong, she wouldn't want him around Charlie. “Si se espanta facilmente, entonces no es lo que necesitas.”

“But I do,” Charlie snapped back, immediately regretting it though Will wouldn't understand the admission that Charlie needed him. He softened his voice, his words, anyway. “Lo deseo.” He wanted Will, and he
could
need him, very easily.

“Charlie?” He could only wonder what in his expression made Will ask that, watching him with worried eyes. Charlie's cheeks were hot, but he met Will's gaze.

“
Mijo
,” his grandmother murmured, her unhappy tone giving Will a delicate frown, and Charlie turned away.

“Where's Alicia?” There were coloring books on the countertop. He turned around, as though she was hidden in a cabinet, and saw his grandmother gesture upstairs. “Alicia!” he called out, and there was immediate thumping, as if she was running down the stairs.

“She
was
napping,” Nana scolded him, but she didn't say anything else when Alicia slammed into the room and wrapped herself around Charlie's legs. She was in a tutu, and someone had painted her nails a glittery pink.

“Uncle Charlie!” If he hadn't been rough with Will earlier, he might have picked her up. But he touched her head and bent down to kiss her cheek and get giggled at for it. Then he spun her around to face Will, since Will claimed that he'd seen her before.

Will was watching them, first wonder and then alarm on his face when Alicia focused on him.

“Alicia, this is Will.” This introduction was so much easier. She leaned back into his legs, wary, and whispered loud enough to be heard out in the pastures.

“He has weird hair.”

“Alicia!” Nana was sharp, and Alicia frowned but scooted forward. Will backed up until he saw Charlie watching him. He tightened his mouth and stayed where he was.

“Uh, hello. How's tricks?” He shrugged helplessly when Charlie rolled his eyes.

“Your shirt sparkles.” That, Charlie knew, would be enough for Alicia. She was friendly and, thanks to her mother, used to meeting new men. “My nails sparkle too.” She held up her hands.

“Very pretty,” Will managed, just slow enough to make Charlie realize that he'd never been around kids before, and then Alicia changed the subject.

“I
know
.”

“Oh, wow.” Will exhaled over the sound of Nana yelling at Alicia again. Will looked from Nana to Alicia and then finally to Charlie.

Alicia held out her hand for Will to take, who looked like he wasn't sure if he should laugh or run. “Want to color? I have glitter crayons.”

Will's answer came out so fast Charlie knew it was reflex. “Glitter is a way of life, girl.” Then he ducked his head and hesitated again, looking at Nana as though she'd object, and when she didn't, he tried a smile. “But, um, I thought I was,” he said, swallowing, “cooking.”

Charlie felt his throat tighten.

“You know you can't make toast,” he whispered fondly and felt like an idiot for it when his grandmother smacked the back of his hand. Will gasped.

“Charlie!” That alone would have been enough to make Charlie apologize, but his grandmother was in front of him, looking at him. He felt his eyes burning and blinked rapidly before he chose to stare at the diamond stud earrings she almost always wore.

“Do not mind Carlos. He has to leave now and check on Angel and the other workers.”

“Worker
s
?” Will was being led toward the counter but stopped short to stare even harder at Charlie. This time Charlie hadn't said anything to upset him, not that he knew of, so he stared back, not understanding.

“It only really supplies enough food to the house, but it
is
a working farm.”

“You do farm things, Charlie?” Will's voice was getting fainter. He sat down hard on a wobbly stool, then jerked when Alicia yanked on his arm to indicate he should help her up. She could climb that stool on her own, but she clearly liked Will's attention. Charlie couldn't blame her, though something about how Will quickly moved to help her was making it hard for him to breathe.

“Will— ” He had to explain, but he was cut off.

“He takes care of his family. Like a man.”

“I just oversee it,” Charlie added quickly, before Nana could start in on that again. Charlie loved his family. He was happy to take care of them, but he didn't expect anyone else to want that responsibility. Will didn't have to worry.

“Because it's his.” His grandmother shook her head at him for being silly, and Charlie resisted the urge to close his eyes again. He waved a hand at Will, but Will ignored it.

“His?” he asked Nana without turning his head.

“It's the family's,” Charlie corrected. “Everything.” All the property, everything. It had always belonged to the family; he wasn't going to change that.

“
Si
, and he is the head of the family.” She shook her head again, as though
she
wasn't the head of the family. She'd been trying to stress that since he'd been fourteen.

“The man,” Will echoed softly, and Charlie coughed. She made it sound bigger than it was. He wasn't a CEO. If anything, that was a job for Ann. She could manage anything. And Angel was young, but he loved working on the farm more than Charlie ever would.

“It doesn't mean anything.” It was important Will know that.

“
Carlos
.” His abuela shot Charlie a look that made him squirm then went back toward the stove.

“What do you do, William? You have been on a farm?”

“He does— ”

“I do hair,” Will interrupted Charlie smoothly, accepting a glitter crayon and frowning at it. “Mostly color, though... . No, I've never, really. I mean, I went wine tasting a few times, but I never... . No farm.”

“Hair? Carlos, you have work to do.” Nana dismissed him. “Continue, William.”

“Nana.” Charlie wasn't going to argue with her, but she at least had to understand to be careful around Will. Coloring and tamales didn't mean he was ready to be pestered with family talk.

“You worry, Carlos.” She did not approve, even if she did know why. “Your cousin was in the barn when I last saw him.” She shooed Charlie back toward the door with a gesture and turned to Will. “Tasting wine?”

“You know, tour the vineyards, get wast— tour the vineyards. Though I, um, have been learning about gardening. Did you know you have to monitor the pH levels in the soil?” The innocent question made Charlie stop by the door. Of course, the chemistry would have appealed to him as much as the beauty.

“Garden?”

“Flowers, at the apartments,” Charlie explained, and Will jumped.

“Oh! We forgot them in the car. We brought you some. They'd going to be wilted as f— very wilted.”

Alicia giggled. Will's eyes went wide. He was perched on a stool and holding a crayon, the picture of chagrin and increasing nerves. Charlie narrowed his eyes.

Will happened to look up to catch his stare. “Charlie,” he started, and he didn't seem annoyed anymore. If anything he was breathless and flushed. Charlie straightened.

“Carlos,” his grandmother said firmly, making them both flinch, and she waved him toward the door again. When he looked at her, at her soft expression, she blinked and then turned her face from Will. “Go.”

“Nana, please.”

“Por supuesto, precioso,” she reassured him quietly, then got louder. “Bring me my flowers and then go see your cousin.”

“And your
farm
,” Will added, in almost a whisper. Charlie opened his mouth, then shut it with another glance at his grandmother. Then he walked to the counter, and Will.

“I... I won't take long.” He didn't want Will to think he was being thrown to the wolves. Will tilted his head back to meet his gaze, then pulled in a breath and held it when Charlie bent down to kiss him.

Charlie had meant it to be short, a simple, parting kiss, but he was hot and the kitchen smelled of food and Will still smelled like
him
. Alicia was there to witness, his grandmother, and Will was... Will was incredible. His lips parted, and the skin of his nape was warm against Charlie's palm as he leaned into Charlie's hand. The shocked whisper against Charlie's mouth was sweet, and when Charlie realized what he was doing, that he wanted to push forward and kiss Will until he was bruised in this kitchen so there'd be no mistaking what he needed from him, he tore his mouth away and stepped back.

He had never blushed so much in his life. But Will just blinked up at him with a shine in his eyes.

Charlie was burning up, but he kept his hands to himself and didn't say anything else as he backed up and hurried toward the door. Alicia was squealing like crazy, and Charlie looked, once, to his grandmother's face and the similar light in her eyes. He didn't say anything to her, either.

She clapped her hands, and then he could hear her explaining tamales to Will as the door closed.

“Oh my God, seriously, these are so good. Charlie, how do you not make these every day? They must be fattening.”

Charlie looked up from his plate as Will made more obscene noises over his food. Alicia was picking at what was left of hers in the seat next to him, but stopped when Charlie cleared his throat. She popped the last piece in her mouth and tried to look innocent.

Angel, next to Charlie, snorted at that, but didn't comment after Charlie stared at him. He was done eating anyway, and picked up his plate and went to the kitchen to put it in the sink. They'd eaten at the breakfast table, since the dining room was only for special occasions. Angel's eyebrows were up as he got himself a beer, though he paused when Charlie eyed him, then nodded when Charlie finally did. Nana didn't care that he was underage, and it wasn't like he was going anywhere but upstairs, but Charlie wanted him to be careful, anyway. He turned back in time to catch the startled look Will was giving him, his head to one side.

“Nice to meet you,” Angel offered Will, still with his eyebrows up, which was a pretty mild reaction to Will, all things considered. Of course, Charlie was there, and Angel was, mostly, a good kid. As good as he could get with Tia Rosa in his life. Will blinked, then nodded.

Will hadn't exactly played it straight around Angel, but it had been interesting to see him tone himself down for the first few minutes as he'd sized Angel up. He must have decided he was okay, because after that Will had been back to his usual flailing hands and dramatic recitations routine.

Charlie eyed those hands and the faint hearts drawn in glittery wax all over them and felt a kick in his chest.

“Tio Lito. Nana.” Angel nodded at him too, kissed Nana's head, and then came around the table to pick up Alicia with one arm and carry her out of the room. Charlie could hear her giggling in the living room and then Angel's footsteps disappearing upstairs before she pushed open the door to come back in.

“Kids.” Charlie rolled his eyes.

“He's a man, Carlos,” Nana scolded him, and Will's forehead wrinkled. Charlie pretended not to see. Whatever Will and his abuela had talked about in the hours he'd been out with Angel, he was sure it had included more of what she thought being a man was about, and that now Will would be full of questions.

“Eat some more,” she went on, and Charlie quickly got up, smiling to himself when Will stuck his foot in it again.

“Oh, no. I'm stuffed, and a boy's got to watch his figure. Or, um, I couldn't possibly.”

“I made some for you to take home. You will make sure he eats them.”

“Nana.” Charlie put more dishes in the sink, went to the fridge for juice, and saw the containers filled with tamales for him to take home. Jesus.

“He doesn't take care of himself, William. Look at how skinny he is. Anita tells me he has lost weight, and now I see it's true.”

“
Nana
!” Charlie stopped to stare, but she was looking at Will. She had his hand. Charlie opened his mouth to protest again, but Alicia pulled at him until he handed her his glass of juice.